Hefting the clothes under his arm, Spike turned and made his way back to the crypt, and Dawn.
The last place he had ever wanted her to have to live.
Dejectedly, he wondered if she would actually speak to him when he got there. The walk back the first time had been mostly silent, with the exception of Spike tying to make conversation.
When he came within feet of the crypt, he could smell the distinct sent of tears. His first thought was Dawn’s safety, and so he barged thru the door, ready take down her attackers.
The sound of the heavy metal door banging open startled Dawn so much that she jumped out of the plush arm chair she had been sitting in, and fell into an automatic fighting stance.
It struck Spike, how familiar the stance was. Nothing like him; open, and begging for violence, or Dru; swaying and calm, confident in her ability to capture the mind. No, Dawn stood with her legs shoulder width apart - sturdy. Her arms up, ready to defend - careful. Hands balled into lose fists - punishing.
“Looks like the Slayers been training you.” He said, looking for a reaction. He got one, Dawn’s face took on a hard edge, and she clenched her fists a couple of times before rigidly coming out of her stance.
“What can I say, violence runs in the family, I guess.” She replied bitterly, crossing her arms.
Spike nearly growled as she again reminded him of Buffy. “Stop that.”
“What?” she said, giving a head tilt that was unquestionably Spike.
Spike shook his head, “can’t be…you’ve just been spending too much time with her is all, picken’ up her mannerisms…you’re not related…she’s not your mother.” Spike grumbled under his breath as he strode past her to the mini fridge.
“What did you say?” Dawn asked, her face the picture of surprise.
Spike cursed under his breath, he hadn’t meant for her to hear him.
“Spike?” Dawn called his name to try and get his attention.
Growling, Spike slammed the door to the fridge, and turned to her. When she flinched away, Spike wanted to cry.
“Not you too…” he said, seeming to deflate, and lean wearily against a sarcophagus. Spike looked up at her “I don’t know what I would do if you were afraid of me too Dawn.”
Dawn’s features softened, but she didn’t come any closer. “What did you say?” she asked again.
“About what?” he asked wearily.
“Before, when you said we weren’t related, you meant Buffy, didn’t you.”
Spike growled, and slammed his fists down on the sarcophagus, pushing himself away from it violently.
“She told you that tripe too? And you believed her? She’s not! Drusilla is your mother! She gave you life! I was there; I saw it with my own eyes!” he shouted, passing back and forth in front of her.
“No.” Dawn’s calmly spoken word stopped him abruptly.
“No?” he asked.
“No, she didn’t tell me. Yes, she is. No, Dru’s not. Lastly, I don’t know what you saw, but Buffy is my mother.” Dawn said with her arms still crossed in front or her.
Spike gave a humorless laugh, “Alright then, if she didn’t tell you, then how do you know?” he asked, trying to stump her.
“She showed me.”
He didn’t understand. “What do you mean, she showed you? Showed you how?” he briefly remembered Buffy mentioning something about an amulet to Willow, and how she had been wearing it when she had attacked Dawn.
Dawn moved to sit on the sarcophagus along the opposite wall. “Buffy got this amulet from Willow today at the magic shop. It’s called the Gem of Sight,” Spike’s eye went wide. He knew of the artifact, it was said to be myth, like the Gem of Amara. “It’s supposed to allow the wearer sight to things like spells, auras, hidden demons, stuff like that. Buffy was wearing the amulet tonight when you decided it was a good idea to throw her down the stairs.” Dawn looked at him with resentment filled eyes.
Spike opened his mouth to retaliate, but Dawn interrupted. “After you left the room, Buffy showed me the necklace and I put it on. Dad, if you had been in Buffy’s position, you would have done worse than just pushing me up against a closet.”
Spike took a moment to let everything sink in, before lifting his head to look at her. His eyes were unreadable. “She, she said that there might be something wrong with you. She’s going to put the Scoobies on it first thing.” He said, looking her over as though he would be able to see the problem.
It struck Dawn as weird that Buffy would actually talk to Spike after everything that had happened tonight. “You talked to her?”
Spike’s entire form slumped in pained resignation. “No. I overheard her and Red’s conversation.”
Dawn couldn’t understand what had upset him so suddenly. “Oh, Willow was there? She was supposed to be out late tonight.” She wondered, fishing for the problem. And if the further slump of her dad’s shoulders was any indication, she had found it.
“She was…she was doing a spell for the Slayer.”
“Well that doesn’t seem so bad.”
“Depends on the spell.”
“Oh ick! Are your parts going to start falling off now?” Dawn made an ick face.
Spike couldn’t help but smile sadly. “No Bit, nothing like that. Buffy, she had Red take my invite away.” He admitted miserably.
Dawn was confused for a moment, then just plain surprised. “Wow, go Buffy.”
Spike’s head snapped up with a look of surprised betrayal.
“Oh don’t give me that look, I love you, but Buffy’s loved you, loved us, for a long time and we’ve treated her like shit for her troubles. What’s worse is that I’m her daughter; she’s supposed to love me. But with you, she chose you. And what do you do? You throw her down the stairs. Instantly accuse her of being guilty, and never once think that there might be a logical reason for her actions. In all honesty, I can’t understand why she loves us to begin with. So don’t be so surprised that she doesn’t trust you anymore.”
Spike dropped his head in shame. ‘Bit’s right. She’s the Power’s Slayer, for God’s sake. The whitest white hat there is, of course she wouldn’t put Dawn in unnecessary danger. I am a pilock.’
“She said…Dawn, do you think that, if you hadn’t been there tonight, I would have killed her?” He already knew her answer, and he didn’t want to hear it. Didn’t want to know that she thought that of him. But he needed to.
“Yes.” She said simply.
Spike nodded sadly.
“But there’s still one thing don’t get.” She said.
Spike lifted his head and ran his fingers thru his hair, “What’s that Bit?” he said tiredly.
“Why do you care?”
“What?” he looked at her sharply and she shrugged.
“Why do you care? All you’ve ever said about Buffy was that you hated her, and she was a good fighter. So why do you care? Why now? Is it just because she locked you out, that someone other than me loves you, that you’re not her favorite vamp anymore, or is it that, deep down, you love her too?” Dawn yawned. “I’m taking the bed since you took me from mine.” She said grumpily.
“Oh,” she said turning back to him, “and I was just wondering how I’m getting to school tomorrow, where my lunch is coming from, and how I’m getting back here.”
Spike noticed that she was careful not to call the crypt ‘home’.
Tightening his shoulders, Spike folded his arms. “You can miss school tomorrow while I figure it out.”
Dawn shrugged her shoulders, and disappeared down the latter.
With a deep sigh, Spike sat heavily in his second hand lay-z-boy, and put his head in his hands. “What a bloody mess.”
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Holy crap! I’ve just got to say, wow. Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed. I am absolutely blown away by positive response my baby has received, and again I just want to say thank you.